Screw holding screw driver



March 25, 1952 H. E. NoFFslNGER SCREW HOLDING SCREW DRIVER Filed July 17, 1.948

Patented Mar. 25, 1952 SCREW HOLDING SCREW DRIVER Harold E. Noffsinger, Salt Lake City, Utah Application July 17, 1948, Serial No. 39,252

(Cl. 14S-52) 'l Claims.

This invention relates to a screw-supporting screw driver. The principal object of the invention is to provide an inexpensive, highly efcient screw driver which will hold a screw rigidly and sclidly on the screw driver bit, as though the bit and the screw were a unit, so as to facilitate the insertion of the screw into difcult places without any slipping of the screw or screw driver. Especially is this kind of support desirable for the use of self-threading types of screws such as sheet metal screws which out their own thread into the material they are driven into.`

Another object of the invention is to so construct the device that a screw can be quickly and easily placed therein, and so that it may be used as a conventional screw driver when desired without it being necessary to remove the attachu ment from the blade.

A further object is to so construct the device that it will be quickly and easily adjustable for y screws of different types and screw heads oi differing thicknesses.

Other objects and advantages reside in the detail construction of the invention, which is designed for simplicity, economy, and efficiency. y

These will become more apparent from the following description.

in the following detailed description of the invention, reference is had to the accompanying drawing which forms a part hereof. Like numerals refer to like parts in all views of the drawing and throughout the description.

in the drawing:

Fig. l is a side elevation oi the improved screw driver, illustrating it in position to receive a screw;

Fig. 2 is a similar view, illustrating the screw driver in section as it would appear when holding a screw;

Fig. 3 illustrates the improved screw driver as it would appear when being used for conventional screw driver purposes;

Fig. e is a cross-section, taken on the line i-L Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is an end view oi the improved screw driver, taken on the line -5, Fig. 2.

The improved screw driver has a shank Il) terminating at its upper extremity in any of the usual screw driver handles i i. The lower extremity of the shank Ii! terminates in a bit I2 having any desired contour, depending upon the type oi screw to which the device is adapted. As illustrated, the bit is of the Phillips type.

The shank lli is provided with external screw threads E3 adjacent the bit i2. A collar it is threaded onto the threads i3. The collar I is provided with a hinge ear l5 projecting from one side thereof. The extremities of the shank Il! and the collar Iii are enclosed in a tubular barrel i6, which is closed at its tcp by means oi a cap Il through which the shank E@ passes. A pair 2 Y of guide ears I8 project from one side of the cap I'I.

A spring seat i9 is formed in the barrel'l adjacent the bottom thereof, and a compression spring 26 is compressed between the spring seat I9 and the collar I4. The seat contains a bit opening 2 I, through which the lower extremity of the shank I9 may be projected.y It is preferred to form a spring opening 22 in the side of the barrel I6, through which the spring is visible.

The barrel I6v terminates at its bottom in a screw seat 23 containing a radial slot 24 for receiving a screw, such as indicated at 25. The side of the barrel I6 is open between the spring seat I9 and the screw seat 23 to allow insertion of the head of a screw.

A clamping lever 26 is mounted at its one extremity on a hinge pin 2'I extending through the hinge ear I5 of the collar I4. A curved link 28 is hingedly mounted on a link pin 29 extending through the two sides of the lever 29 adjacent the hinge pin 2l.

The link is provided adjacent its free extrem ity with an elongated slot30, through which a slot pin 3! passes between the ears I8. The slot 3i] terminates in an enlarged hook opening 32.

The device is used as follows:

The lever 26 is opened to the position of Fig. l. This allows the spring 2i) to force the barrel IS downwardly until the upper extremity of the ear slot 33 engages the hinge ear I5, as shown in Fig. 1. The screw 25 is now passed into the screw slot 24 below the bit I2.

The clamping lever 26 is now closed toward the shank I0. This brings the lower extremity of the elongated slot 30 against the slot pin 3I so that the link acts to pry the barrel IG upwardly, the collar I4 serving as a iulcrum. This pulls the head of the screw against the end of the bit i2 and, when the lever 2G is fully closed, the link pin 29 passes inwardly beyond the dead center position between the pins 2'I and 3l to snap the lever 26 closed and maintain it in this position.

Various sizes of screws and various types of screws have differing thicknesses of heads. An adjustment must be made for this thickness to allow the lever 26 to rigidly snap to the closed position when the bit I2 is firmly in engagement with the screw.

This adjustment is accomplished as follows: Should it be impossible to close the lever 25 on the head of the screw 25, the barrel I6 is grasped in one hand and the handle I I in the other, and the shank Ill is unscrewed from the collar I4 until the lever can be snapped closed. Should the bit I2 not reach the head of the screw when the lever 26 is brought to the closed position, the handle I I is rotated toscrew the shank downwardly through theI collarv I4 until the bit engages the screw. No further adjustments need 3 be made until the device is to be used on a different type of screw.

It will be seen that the screw is rigidly held in place by the direct pressure of the shank Il so that it in fact forms an integral continuation of the shank. This allows the screw to be forced into diflicult places without fear of disengagement from the bit.

After the screw has been almost' completely screwed into place, the lever 26 is released, which raises the bit I2 from the screw and allows the screw seat 23 to be removed from beneath the head of the screw.

The barrel i6 is now pulled upwardly until the slot pin 3| engages in the hook opening 32 at the upper end of the slot. The lever 26 is closed to force the barrel IB upwardly along the shank l until the bit l2 is exposed below the screw seat 23 so that it may be used as an ordinary screw driver to bring the screw to its nal seat, as shown in Fig. 3.

The screw driver is made ready for receiving the next screw by simply snapping the lever 2E outwardly with the thumb, which will allow the spring 20 to return the device to the screwreceiving position of Fig. l.

With this device on a screw driver and the screw locked in place the screw almost becomes an integral part of the screw driver, it is so solidly supported. The screw can then be driven 'into the material with one hand.

One of the main diiculties in driving screws is getting them started straight and with the self threading type to get the thread started to cut in the material. With the device these difficulties are overcome since the screw becomes an integral part of the screw driver.

While a speciiic form of the improvement has been described and illustrated herein, it is to be understood that the same may be varied, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired secured by Letters Patent is:

l. A screw holding screw driver comprising: a shank terminating at its lower extremity in a screw engaging bit, and at its upper extremity in a handle; a tubular barrel surrounding said shank; a slotted screw holding seat on the lower extremity of said barrel; a spring seat adjacent the b-ottom of said barrel; a collar` on said shank within said barrel; a spring compressed between said collar and said spring seat so as to urge said screw holding seat away from said bit;4

a lever pivoted to said collar for swinging movenient longitudinally of the shank and the barrel, a link pivoted to said lever and extending longitudinally oi the barrel, and a member carried by said barrel and slidably connected with the link, said link being adapted for abutting engagement with the said member at points spaced :from each other longitudinally of the link for shifting the barrel longitudinally along the shank predetermined distances when the lever is tilted.

2. A screw holding screw driver comprising: a shank terminating at its lower extremity in a screw engaging bit, and at its upper extremity Y, in a handle; a tubular barrel surrounding said shank; a slotted screw holding seat on the lower extremity of said barrel; a spring seat adjacent the bottom of said barrel spaced upwardly from the screw holding seat; a collar threaded upon .said shank within said barrel; a spring compressed between said collar and said spring seat so as to urge said screw holding seat downwardly away from said bit; a lever pivotally mounted on said collar and projecting from an opening in said barrel; and a link hinged between said lever and said barrel so that when said lever is swung upwardly and inwardly toward said barrel, said link will lift said barrel on said shank the threaded connection between the collar and the shank allowing adjustment of the collar and the barrel along the shank by turning the shank in the collar.

3. A screw holding screw driver comprising: a shank terminating at its lower extremity in a screw engaging bit, and at its upper extremity in a handle; a tubular barrel surrounding said shank; a slotted screw holding seat at the lower extremity of said barrel; a spring seat spaced upwardly from the bottom of said barrel; a collar on said shank within said barrel; a spring compressed between said collar and said spring seat so as to urge said screw holding seat downwardly away from said bit; a lever mounted on said collar and projecting from an opening in said barrel; a link hinged at its lower end to said lever; the lever being formed with a longitudinally extending track having an offset seat at its upper end, and a link pin carried by said barrel and pivotally and slidably engaged in the track in said link so that tilting of said lever upwardly and inwardly toward said barrel will cause the lower extremity of said slot to contact said link pin to lift said barrel on said shank said pin being also removably engageable in the offset seat of the track for shifting the barrel upwardly and supporting the barrel in a raised position when the lever is swung to the raised position.

4. A screw holding screw driver comprising: a shank terminating at its lower extremity in a screw engaging bit, and at its upper extremity in a handle; a tubular barrel surrounding said shank; a slotted screw holding seat on the lower extremity of said barrel; a spring seat adjacent the bottom of said barrel; a collar on said shank within said barrel; a spring compressed between said collar and said spring seat so as to urge said screw holding seat downwardly away from said bit; a lever mounted on said collar and projecting from an opening in said barrel; a link hinged at its lower end to said lever; a link pin carried by said barrel and passing through an elongated slot formed in said link so that movement of said lever upwardly and inwardly toward said barrel will cause the lower extremity of said slot to contact said link pin to lift said barrel on said shank; and a hooked extremity at the upper end of said slot for engaging said link pin to support said barrel on said shank in an upwardly shifted position against the action of said spring.

HAROLD E. NOFFSINGER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,625,227 Staupe Apr. 19, 1927 1,912,317 Stewart May 30, 1933 K 2,312,869 Boyer Mar. 2, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Dato 83,013 Switzerland Apr. 1, 1920 308,955 Great Britain Apr. 2, 1929 

